Experiment (2 page)

He didn’t worry about a power drain any longer. He’d invented something altogether radical
in order to alleviate that concern.

The transporter was now technically unnecessary. He had designed a built in power supply into the telescope itself.
He pressed the
send
button and the telescope disappeared from the lab. This in itself was unusual because the transport had always needed a few seconds to gather enough power even if it were only transported a few feet away. What was even more unusual to James was that there was no rippling effect on the immediate surroundings as was normal. There was also a subtle noise associated with a normal transport; like a faint grinding sound, that was not present this time. The telescope simply vanished in silence.

James was so ecstatic
that he wished he’d set the telescope to return in just seconds. He couldn’t wait ten minutes to find out if it was a success. He paced excitedly and after ten full minutes the telescope returned.

It was covered in
interstellar dust and James quickly brushed it off with his hand so his coworkers wouldn't be suspicious and start snooping around.

He plugged the display into his left temple and gasped in amazement at what he was seeing. It was unfathomable.

In an instant the original transporters functions held absolutely no interest to him anymore. The telescope alone was now capable of so much more than simply transporting an object throughout the universe. His mind reeled at the implications of what he was seeing. He'd achieved the impossible.

When
the display had finished relaying all the images and information to his brain, he deleted the source files and quickly looked around to make sure nothing was out of place.

He delegated tasks and tests for the next hour but his thoughts lingered upon the images he’d seen earlier in the morning. He actively daydreamed as he pretended to work on the now obsolete transporter.

His meeting with the board was fast approaching and
so he hastily gathered his notes and went into the adjacent conference room. He steadied himself and took a deep breath. He turned on the projection array and images of the five board members now flickered in front of him, holographically.

He smiled and addressed each of them in turn.

He worried that his speech was too long or too technical but he needed the board to believe that the project was beneficial to the corporation.

He began, “Ladies and gentlemen, t
he problem with telescopes has always been one of distance and of light, or more specifically, the speed which light travels over great distances. If you look through an earth based telescope at something ten light years away, you will see the object as it was ten years ago. This is because the light takes ten years traveling at the speed of light to reach the telescope from the object. The problem is amplified with greater distance.

If you look at a planet or star or galaxy that is a hundred million light years away, you are seeing it as it was a hundred million years ago. In that vast amount of time, the star you are seeing may have been dead for thousands of years or the planet may have hurtled out of its orbit.
The galaxy you view might have been swallowed by its black hole nucleus just yesterday and we won’t see it happen for another hundred million years. In fact, these scenarios are only a few possibilities.

What you see at these greater distances
is the past. You never truly get to see the universe as it is right at this moment.

My invention takes
distance out of the equation and allows for a real time view of the heavens. If you wanted to see how that galaxy a hundred million light years away is doing today, you simply transport the telescope a hundred million light years out into space and view it up close.”

He was interrupted by the newest board member, Robert Chin.

Robert said, “I understand, but as the telescope is sent out to greater distances, there are an almost infinite number of unforeseen variables. The universe is constantly moving and changing. Planets orbit stars which in turn orbit their host galaxy. Galaxies move, some toward us and some away from us and all at different speeds and trajectories. You might transport the telescope out to a region of empty space only to find that it is no longer empty. This is yet another light-speed barrier problem. If you look into the sky and see nothing but empty space, you are still looking into the past. The present is something we are unequipped to see at a distance. That seemingly empty region of sky may presently contain millions of stars. We just won’t be able to see them until the light reaches us from them.

My question is this, how do you know you won’t accidentally transport the telescope into the corona of a star or into an asteroid belt?
That telescope is the most advanced and therefore most expensive telescope in the world. I’d hate for you to destroy it.”

James had thought about every possible question and was relieved to be answering one so intelligent.

He responded, “The transported telescope had a few near misses in Beta testing but the more it is used to map the stars in real time, the better the chances of avoiding impacts. We're mapping the skies as they are today and so the more we use it the better we’ll get at using it. We just need to take baby steps in the beginning. It helps that space is mostly empty too."

Robert seemed pleased with the response and so James continued, “
The genius of the transporter is that it shows us our place in the heavens. It does not trick us the way light always has. It does not make us wait for answers. We may finally know if there is life elsewhere in the universe. We may finally get a glimpse of the grand design.”

James stared at each of the
ir images, whilst hiding his apprehension. Finally, they convened to discuss the proposal amongst themselves.

James was about to switch off the projector when, Robert
’s image re-emerged.

He said, “Wait just a moment. They’re almost done deliberating. We should have an answer
in a few seconds.”

James’ heart skipped a beat but he hid his
fear. A result this quickly could mean only one thing - his project was being scrapped. They’d probably have him working on something highly mundane before the week was out.

The board members all appeared before him and the senior board member spoke.

He said, “Although the implications of your design are somewhat vague to us at this moment, it is conceivable that your invention may one day be profitable for the corporation. Your genius continues to astound us Mr. Hoo.

At the moment
, however, I am personally inclined to abandon the project simply because it offers nothing tangible or immediate. Fortunately for you, my judgment was over-ruled by my junior members here. We have reached a compromise. Unless you can prove that your invention can achieve a profitable return within two months, the project will be terminated. Thank you for your time and good luck to you.”

The image
s of the board members went blank.

James was elated. He had an idea for an adaptation to the telescope that he was eager to work on
, and now he knew he had ample time to do it.

It was a supposedly impossible undertak
ing; something deemed fanciful by every top scientist in the world. James had thought of a new way to approach the problem and two months of covert morning work should be more than enough time to pull it off. If he could just put in a solid eight or ten hours, he could probably complete it all at once.

Again, he would need to be careful. Many scientists had been
terminated in the past due to independent thought and erratic actions. It seemed as though the great thinkers’ genetic material was somehow more fragile than that of others because over time they seemed to unravel emotionally and mentally. The scientific community was under constant surveillance to ensure genetic deterioration was promptly dealt with.

Throughout his years at the corporation James had seen two colleagues taken away for
termination. The issue of genetic deterioration amongst high level scientists had always been an embarrassing statistic for the corporations employing them, which was the main reason scientists were watched so closely. One false move or inappropriate reaction from any scientist was often in itself grounds for termination.

With that, the staff convened to the lower level and James was alone with his invention. He closed the door to his lab and leaned against his desk in deep thought.

It was a brilliant stroke of quick thinking to effectively banish his assistants from the lab. He now had ample time to work on his new theory at length, that is, unless one of his technicians actually came up with a workable idea sooner rather than later. He already knew what to do to make the transporter profitable but he was confident that his staff would not arrive at the same conclusion that he had for quite some time.

He didn't
immediately tamper with the transporter or the telescope. His theory was so groundbreaking that it left him somewhat unsure of himself. If he didn’t think of every detail and factor in every possible variable, the outcome would most certainly be catastrophic. He plugged his display into his right temple, and immediately, all the equations he thought of showed on it. He checked every one of them over the next hour until he was confident they were correct. He unplugged the display and wiped the memory clean.

He ate the required lunch along with all the recommended supplements and then began fabricating some of the hardware necessary for the new modification. Normally, the specs for the hardware were sent downstairs and it would all be fabricated by the manufa
cturing department. James couldn't risk anyone stumbling upon his discovery and so he was forced to design and build it all himself.

He worked feverishly over the next several hours with the knowledge that he could finish with the new modification before day’s end.

James had always suspected there were others like him
self who were cunning enough to hide their true selves. He was proven correct two years ago when the corporation set-up his domicile mate. He couldn’t have been more fortunate in their choice of partner. Margaret initiated the first sexual contact. She was well aware of the ramifications had he not the desire to reciprocate. They had lived in constant fear of being found out but now they had something even more serious to contend with.

Just three weeks ago,
Margaret had given birth to a child. James had delivered the child himself. The boy was well hidden within their domicile but keeping the noise levels undetectable was a little harder to deal with. James had fabricated a floating wall that stood just two feet from the existing wall in their bedroom. This meant that their 12”x12” bedroom was now 12”x10”. The baby’s room was just 2”x10” but it was enough for now. The interior of the baby’s room was somewhat soundproofed since there was just no way to keep its noise levels adequately low. The crying was always a constant concern for them.

In years gone by, natural pregnancies were normally destroyed by the parents either before or just after birth. The consequences were just too devastating. Fortunately for society, there had not been a recorded case of natural birth in
hundreds of years. No one was permitted to have sex, let alone conceive children and thanks to the genetic recipe added to everyone’s make-up by government standards, no one ever considered entertaining sexual thoughts. In a way, this helped James and Margaret’s actions go undetected. No one alive had ever seen a pregnant woman or even a young child except for the laborers within the child camps and those laborers were never seen in normal society.

Margaret
was able to deflect questions about her increasing stomach size by simply saying she was gaining weight from a harmless illness.

To say she was simply gaining weight
from eating would have been absurd; no one was overweight from simply eating anymore. The daily exercise regime, perfect genetic make-up, and exact diet ensured this.

Margaret
spent the entire third trimester inside the domicile and only showed herself during routine sweeps. Fortunately, because James was a high ranking asset of the corporation, the sweeps on his residence were uncommon; occurring about once a month.